King Simeon II of Bulgaria and his family

[Robert_Hall]

According to the morning news in Sofia- Simeon got the boot. [Sofia News]

[palimpsest]

dvoretzky
do you think he has done a good job?

[Robert_Hall]

In my personal opinion, the results are mixed. I was in Bulgaria whwn his party was elected and the  enthusiasm was very noticable.  I have since returned and the dissapointment is equally noticable. I think he promised far more than he could deliver, did not  stop the corruption, nor the violence. That his Western Euro friends are making money at the expense of Bulgarians and his property claims  are outrageous. My views are based on those of my Bulgarian friends and various news reports from the country itself. Naturally there will be other, more symapthetic views and I suppose the real truth lies somewhere in between.

[dvoretzky]

Sorry, no big news, nesides Mr. Stanishev getting the mandate from the hands of his former Comrade, President Purvanov.
All issues have been decided upon, with the exception of personnel changes :-))
Do you think Simeon should be happy to be the Chairman of the Coalition Council (the silly post, meaning nothing, that he was offered)?

[TampaBay]

dvoretzky
do you think he has done a good job?

The real question is: "Do you think Tony Blair or George W. Bush of Jacque Chirrac could have done a better job?".  All things are realitive in realtion to what one has to work with.

TampaBay

[Robert_Hall]

TB, my dear, what kind of question is that ? Bulgaria has a whole set of problems that are totally different that those of any major country. Simeon supposedly brought his  Western connections to tackle  those problems.  So he might be considered to have the same resources, but did not use them to the best or most proper advantage in the Bulgarian situation ?

[TampaBay]

TB, my dear, what kind of question is that ? Bulgaria has a whole set of problems that are totally different that those of any major country. Simeon supposedly brought his  Western connections to tackle  those problems.  So he might be considered to have the same resources, but did not use them to the best or most proper advantage in the Bulgarian situation ?

A question to begin discussion, so those not familiar with Bulgaria (except where it is on a map such as myself), may understand what the former "Eastern Block" countries are up aganist.  I for one have no "clue" but I seek to understand.

TampaBay

[palimpsest]

I think that even the fact that he might have hade a chance to be prim-minister again is a victory in itself, given the political context. I think he probably did a better job than any local politician could have done [also true for other East-European countries]. But the expectations of the people were VERY high so he is out.

[dvoretzky]

It is hard for me to judge him. Noone can deny that he brought Bulgaria into NATO and the EU (well, almost;-)). On the other hand, it's a fact that he used his mandate for personal gains, too. Bottomline: somewhere in between Machiavelli and Clinton.

[TampaBay]

It is hard for me to judge him. Noone can deny that he brought Bulgaria into NATO and the EU (well, almost;-)). On the other hand, it's a fact that he used his mandate for personal gains, too. Bottomline: somewhere in between Machiavelli and Clinton.

Did he have "personal" gains while Prime Minister?

TampaBay

[dvoretzky]

Absolutely, the Sofia District Governor (appointed by him) decided to restore his ownership over forests worth 130 million Euro. There are publications claiming that those forests hadn't belonged to his family at all but to the Crown. And as Bulgaria is a Republic since 1946, then he shouldn't be entitled to this property.
Besides, there were reports that one of his sons, Prince Kiril who is a City broker, had made a lot of money by the deals with the foreign debt of Bulgaria which were decided upon during his term of office.

[palimpsest]

I'm not surprised by such news. But if he is a good landlord and if the country prospered during his period in office why shouldn't he also “thrive”? Better him than all those newly enriched former communists who don’t understand that their prosperity is linked with that of the country!
Am I wrong? Maybe I want too badly for Simeon to be a success in Bulgaria.

[Robert_Hall]

I think the argument is that he did not prosper with the country, he did so at the expense of the country.  That is a major difference. Also, he had returned to him private family property, so why  give him state property as well ? All of this was also without tax obligation.

[palimpsest]

Too bad! I sure wished he was "clever-&-clean" at the same time. But you Robert, what do you think, isn't this a "survival" method?

[Robert_Hall]

Well, I go by what my friends in Bulgaria tell me.  At first, they [and I] were very supportive and hopeful.  Now, that is far from the case.  Although I am not as angry with him, after all, I do not live there, do not pay Bulgarian taxes nor see my health care vanish.
Survival ? For whom ? Simeon was not a pauper when he returned to the country. There is a definite line bewteen survival and greed.
Now he is making a coallition government  difficult to form, holding out for more.  This does not look to me as being totally comitted to the welfare of the country and the people.
Like I said, these are just my opinions based on those of my friends and the decidedly  vanilla news that comes from the internet.